Ryan Tosoc entered the 2017 WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic Main Event hoping to improve from last year’s runner-up finish in that same event. Moments ago, the player delivered on his goal.

He bested a field of 812 competitors, with that number representing record-breaking attendance for that particular tournament which has been part of the WPT’s Main Tour schedule since the poker series inception. The player collected $1,958,065 for his performance and had his name engraved on the WPT Champions Cup.

Tosoc entered the final day of action second in chips with a total of 5.105 million and with Sean Perry being the only player with a larger stack at the start of the official six-handed final table. Talking to WPT staff prior to Day 6, Tosoc said that he has always felt comfortable and confident in his game when playing at the Bellagio, the casino that hosted the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic.

Last year, the player finished runner-up to James Romero in the Main Event, collecting $1.1 million for his deep run. With that said, this year’s champion now has more than $3 million in winnings in back-to-back editions of the same tournament.

Heads-Up Action

Last night, Tosoc faced Alex Foxen heads-up. The eventual winner had substantial lead over his final opponent. Tosoc held 14.995 million to Foxen’s 9.37 million at the start of the two-handed match.

However, chips swung back and forth for several hours providing for action-packed match. Foxen emerged as the chip leader shortly after the beginning of the duel, and managed to build quite a stack within the course of several hands. However, Tosoc regained momentum and the chip lead. Halfway through the match, Foxen once again took control over the bigger portion of all chips at the table.

However, his momentum did not last long, and Tosoc assumed controlling advantage over his final opponent to never look back. Hand #124 was the final hand of the final table and the tournament as a whole, and it was the 50th hand of the heads-up match.

It saw Tosoc raise to 500,000 from the button and Foxen three-bet shove for his last 2.9 million. Foxen tabled [Ah][10c] to Tosoc’s [Qc][10h]. Later on, the eventual winner said that he just felt this was the end of the tournament. The board ran out [9h][3d][Kd][Jh][Jc] to secure Tosoc with a winning straight and to bust Foxen in second place. While he had certainly vied for the title and the first-place prize, Foxen still won a life-changing seven-figure payout of $1,134,202.

Mike Del Vecchio, the only former WPT champion at the final table, finished third in the tournament, good for $752,196. Sean Perry, the Day 6 start-of-the-day chip leader, took fourth place for $504,090. Ajay Chabra took fifth place, good for $350,500. Richard Kirsch rounded out the six-handed final table for $271,736.